GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Micah Parsons is embracing the expectations that come from joining the Green Bay Packers with a record-setting contract.
“I just want to do whatever I can to help the Packers win a championship,” Parsons told The Associated Press on Friday, a day after the edge rusher was traded from the Dallas Cowboys and agreed to terms on a contract that makes him the highest-paid non-quarterback in league history.
Parsons, who will hold his introductory news conference in Green Bay on Friday evening, received a four-year, $188 million contract with $136 million guaranteed. The Packers sent two first-round picks and three-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Kenny Clark to Dallas in exchange for Parsons, who already has 52 ½ career sacks through his first four NFL seasons.
Parsons’ new team could result in a new uniform number. At Dallas, Parsons had No. 11, which wide receiver Jayden Reed currently wears for Green Bay.
The 26-year-old Parsons hinted at a new number Friday when he went on X and asked, “Should I go 0 or 1!”
Adding Parsons makes the Packers among the league’s top Super Bowl contenders after they reached the playoffs with the NFL’s youngest team each of the last two years.
Parsons shores up a pass rush that wasn’t reliable last season, when the Packers went 11-7 and lost at Philadelphia in the NFC wild card round. Parsons should make up a formidable pass-rushing tandem with Rashan Gary, who has 39 career sacks in six seasons.
Although the Packers had 45 sacks to tie for eighth in the NFL, more than half of them came in four games. They had no more than one sack in seven of their 17 games.
Parsons has recorded at least 12 sacks each of his four seasons, whereas the Packers haven’t had anyone collect that many sacks in a single season since Za’Darius Smith had 12 ½ in 2020.
For a franchise that is known for traditionally building its roster by developing its own draft picks, this represents a true swing for the fences.
This Packers team had plenty of solid players but lacked star power. Parsons instantly provides that.
Green Bay has a history of signing future Hall of Fame defensive players who can lead championship runs. Reggie White came over from Philadelphia and played a huge role on the 1996 championship team. Charles Woodson arrived from Oakland and helped lead the 2010 Super Bowl run.
White’s title came in his fourth season in Green Bay. Woodson’s championship came in his fifth year with the Packers. Green Bay fans hope Parsons’ arrival provides a more immediate Super Bowl payoff.
Parsons’ acquisition and his big contract bring the Packers some potential short-term and long-term consequences.
The loss of Clark could hinder Green Bay’s run defense. Clark is coming off a 2024 season in which he recorded only one sack while dealing with a toe injury that required surgery, but he’s healthy now and has always been solid against the run.
Losing Clark and allowing defensive tackle T.J. Slaton to sign with the Cincinnati Bengals in free agency leaves Green Bay short on depth at that position. The Packers need a big season from Devonte Wyatt, a 2022 first-round draft pick.
And with all the money Green Bay is paying Parsons and quarterback Jordan Love, who signed a four-year, $220 million extension last year, the Packers may need to make some hard decisions down the road with players approaching the end of their contracts.
The list of Packers entering the final year of their deals includes wide receivers Romeo Doubs and Christian Watson, left tackle Rasheed Walker and linebacker Quay Walker, who has led Green Bay in tackles each of the last three years.
Packers coach Matt LaFleur and general manager Brian Gutekunst face their own contract issues, and their futures could be tied into how well this trade works out. Both have two years left on their deals.
Ed Policy, who took over as Packers president/CEO this summer after Mark Murphy’s retirement, has praised LaFleur and Gutekunst but also said he wouldn’t extend either of their contracts before this season. Policy wanted more time to evaluate them.
This trade is hardly the first time Gutekunst has made a major roll of the dice.
Gutekunst showed his willingness to take a risk when he traded up in the first round to draft Love in 2020, when the Packers already had a superstar quarterback in Aaron Rodgers. Gutekunst took an equally big risk three years later when he traded Rodgers to the New York Jets to clear the way for Love to take over for the four-time MVP.
Those moves worked out well enough to make the Packers annual contenders. They’re hoping this latest gamble can put the over the top.
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AP Pro Football Writer Rob Maaddi contributed to this report.
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
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